Article dispensing means



Sept 17, 1 963 I Filed Sept. 15. 1961 K. G. BROWN ARTICLE DISPENSING MEANS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

INVENTOR.

KENNETH (5. BROWN BY a 7 Wm ATTORNEY Sept. 17, 1963 K. 6. BROWN 3,104,028

ARTICLE DISPENSING MEANS Filed Sept. -15, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

KENNETH 6. BROWN ATTORNEY Sept. 17, 1963 K. G. BROWN 3,104,028

ARTICLE DISPENSING MEANS v Filed Sept. 15, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet s INV EN TOR. KENNETH 6. BROWN BY/ WM ATTORNEY Sept. 17, 1963 K. G. BROWN v 3 ARTICLE DISPENSING MEANS Filed Sept. 15, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

KENNETH G. BROWN ATTORNEY Sept. 17, 1963 K. G. BROWN 3,104,028

"ARTICLE DISPENSING MEANS Filed Sept. 15, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

KENNETH 6. BROWN AT TO RNEY United States Patent 3,104,028 ARTICLE DISPENSING MEANS Kenneth G. Brown, Wickham Ave., Mattituck, N.Y. Filed Sept. 15, 1961, Ser. No. 138,368 2 Claims. (Cl. 22186) This invention relates to article dispensing means, and more particularly to means for dispensing stored articles singly to an em't chute.

The present invention provides apparatus for dispensing relatively bulky articles, for instance from a vending machine, such as bags of ice cubes, bags of charcoal, potatoes, or other equivalent articles. The present device is particularly adapted for refrigerated articles, as the design is such that there will be a minimum of moving parts which are liable to become frozen, or otherwise stick or bind.

More particularly, the present invention generally comprises a barrel member rotatably mounted about a vertical axis. One or more rows of wire racks are pivotally mounted on the outer surface of the barrel member so that they normally extend radially in a horizontal plane for carrying the articles. When it is desired to dispense one of the articles, the barrel is rotated by a motor and means are provided to trip one of the racks over an exit chute so that the article on the rack will fall into the exit chute.

The tripping means are as follows: The racks are held in horizontal position by means of a hook shaped member which is pivotally mounted on a rack and which engages a slot in the barrel member. The bottom curved surface of the hooked member is supported at the bottom of its slot on the barrel. At the point where it is desired to trip the rack, a lifting shoe riding on the bearing ring comes in contact with the hook lock and causes it to raise and rotate within the holding slot so that the rack falls down and discharges the article.

In one embodiment of the invention different classes of articles may be dispensed interchangeably. In this modification a plurality of separate drums are mounted on a stationary vertical shaft and separately driven. This is possible, for all drums will have their racks in the dumped position at the exit point, thereby causing no interference from ones below.

Accordingly, a principal object of the invention is to provide new and improved article dispensing means.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved article dispensing means for handling bulky and heavy articles, such as bags of ice, charcoal, or potatoes.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved article dispensing means suitable for vending machines which are simple in construction and economical to build and maintain.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved article dispensing means which are adapted to handle refrigerated articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved article dispensing means which are adapted to dispense different classes or categories of \articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved article dispensing means which are easy to load and in which the products first loaded are dispensed first.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following specification and drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of an embodiment of the invention,

FIGS. 2 and 3 are side detail views of the embodiment of FIG. 1,

FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are diagrams illustrative of the operation of the invention.

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FIGS. 8 and 9 are diagrams illustrative of the timing sequence of the invention, FIG. 9 being in section.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the figures, the invention generally comprises a metal barrel 1, which is fixedly mounted on a rotatable vertical shaft 2, rotatably mounted in frame F and which is adapted to be driven by means of a motor 3, FIG. 3. Motor 3 is connected to the shaft 2, by means of a ring gear, 4, mounted on the shaft and a worm gear 5, mounted on a motor shaft. The motor is mounted on a bracket 6, which is pivoted on the frame F and a handle 7 is connected to the bracket 6, so that by rotating the handle the motor may be disconnected from the shaft. This permits easy rotation of the shaft which is desirable when loading the apparatus with articles.

A plurality of racks 10, 11, 12, etc. are pivotally mounted in horizontal rows on the surface of the barrel 1, and the racks are adapted to be held in horizontal position, extending radially from the barrel, by means of hook members 13 (see FIGS. 4 to 7) which are pivotally mounted on the rack member. The hooked members 13 have an angle shape and when the rack is in horizontal position the angled bottom portion of the hook 13 rides slightly above or on a bearing ring 14-, which may be of nylon, which is mounted on the barrel 1. With the hook 13 in the position shown in FIG. 4, the hook extends through a slot 15 in the barrel 1, so that the lower curved portion of the hook bears against the lower lip of the slot 15 and holds the rack 19 in horizontal position.

In order to trip the rack down at a predetermined point over the exit chute 2 2, a lifting shoe 16 rides on the bearing ring 14 so that as the barrel rotates past it causes the hook to rise on the lifting shoe 16 and fall through the slot 15, thereby permitting the rack 10 to fall as shown in FIG. 6, thereby discharging the article. The bearing ring 14 may be an iron or steel strip 14a preferably with a nylon cap 14b. The shoe 16 has a U shaped guide or staple 16a which rides on ring 14.

The lifting shoes 16 are mounted on rod members 17, the other end of which are rigidly connected to the frame F for instance by means of a lock 18. The rod members 17 act as guides so that upon further rotation of the barrel 1 the racks will ride up on the guide 17 as shown in FIG. 9 until the hooks 13 are pulled out of the slots into the locking position for holding the racks in normal horizontal position.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the placing of the rods 17 and lifting shoes 16 for a four layer arrangement of racks. The lifting shoes are placed so that the racks on the lower level trip first then the rack on the second level, third level, fourth level. Thereafter, after all of the racks in one vertical set have been tripped, the racks are then restored to normal horizontal position on further rotation of the barrel, whereupon the racks are lifted to loading position by rod 17.

More specifically, referring to FIGURES 8 and 9, the barrel is rotating in the direction of the arrow. Therefore, the rack 20 will encounter the lifting shoe 21 and will be the first rack tripped down to discharge its article into the common guide chute 22. Upon the next rotation movement of the barrel 1, the lifting shoe 23 on the second lowest level will trip the rack 24. Upon the next rotation movement the lifting shoe 25 will trip the rack 26. Upon the next rotation movement thereafter, the lifting shoe 27 will trip the rack 28. The amount of the rotation movements of the barrel are controlled by the time which the motor operates which is con-trolled for instance by a limit switch S at the chute that a package falls on. The drum will rotate until a package falls. Each motor cycle may be actuated by a conventional coin control if it is desired to use the present invention in a coin controlled vending machine.

Note that the lowest rack is tripped first then the next lowest, etc, so that articles discharged from the higher levels will not be caught by the lower racks, but will fall in chute 22. As the barrel rotates the tripped racks on the lower levels remain in tripped or vertical position until all of the racks in a vertical set are tripped. Thereafter upon further rotation of the barrel the racks will ride up on the guide rods 17, 17a, 17b, 170, so that the racks will then be restored to normal horizontal position. This is accomplished by making portions A, B, C, and D of the guide members of different lengths. For instance, the portion A of the guide member 17c is made longer than the portion B of the guide 17b, which in turn is longer than the portion C of the guide 170. Therefore, all of the racks in one vertical set will remain in tripped position until they reach the position indicated by the line E, after which point, upon further rotation of the barrel, the racks will ride up the guide member 17, 17a, etc. until the hooks 13 are pulled out of the slots in the locking position. After the hooks are locked the racks ride oil the guides, as illustrated in FIG. 9.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the apparatus may be loaded manually by opening the loading door 30 and operating the handle 7 to disengage the motor drive. The barrel may then be easily turned by hand for loading all of the racks.

FIG. 10 shows a modification of the invention for dispensing different classes of articles. In this arrangement a plurality of drums 30, 31, 32, 33 are rotatably mounted on a stationary shaft 34. Each drum is adapted to be separately driven by means of a separate chain and motor. For instance, the drum 33 is adapted to be driven by means of the chain 35 connected to motor 36 and the other drums are adapted to be driven by the motors 37, 38, 39, all of which are fixedly mounted on the frame F and adapted to be separately controlled for instance, by a conventional selective coin control.

Each of the drums contains a plurality of pivotally mounted racks which operate in the same manner as previously described. All racks are in a tripped position when in the designated area over the chute 44. These racks cannot be loaded by reason of the tripper. Therefore, no package can fall on any other. In other words one vertical set of racks over the exit chute is always in dumped position, as previously described. Therefore, the fully loaded capacity of each drum is the number of racks minus one. The racks are tripped and restored to position as previously described.

Many modifications may be made by those desiring to practice the invention without departing from the scope thereof which is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. Article dispensing means comprising a barrel member mounted about a rotatably vertical shaft, a row of slots in said member equally spaced around the periphery of said member in a horizontal plane, a bearing ring connected to said member in a horizontal plane below said slots, a plurality of racks pivotally mounted on said member, means to support said racks in a horizontal plane comprising a hook member pivotal-1y mounted on each of said racks, each of said hook members engaging one of said slots in said member said hooks riding on said bearing ring, means to trip one of said racks to cause said rack to fall from the horizontal position com prising a lifting shoe on said bearing ring said shoe causing said hook member to rise and rotate in the said slot, guide means to restore said rack to horizontal position upon further rotation of said barrel, a motor and means to connect and disconnect said motor and mid shaft.

2. Article dispensing means as in claim 1, wherein said member has a plurality of horizontal rows of racks, said racks being arranged in vertical sets, a plurality of tripping means, one adjacent each horizontal row of racks said tripping means being displaced horizontally in such manner that .a rack on the lowest plane is tripped first then the rack on the next highest plane and so on, and guide means to restore said racks to horizontal position after all the racks in one vertical set have been tripped.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 749,535 Dawes Jan. 12, 1904 2,208,298 Mah-affey July 16, 1940 2,219,206 De Stefani Oct. 22, 1940 2,359,182 Wilsey Sept. 26, 1944 

1. ARTICLE DISPENSING MEANS COMPRISING A BARREL MEMBER MOUNTED ABOUT A ROTATABLY VERTICAL SHAFT, A ROW OF SLOTS IN SAID MEMBER EQUALLY SPACED AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF SAID MEMBER IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE, A BEARING RING CONNECTED TO SAID MEMBER IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE BELOW SAID SLOTS, A PLURALITY OF RACKS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID MEMBER, MEANS TO SUPPORT SAID RACKS IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE COMPRISING A HOOK MEMBER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON EACH OF SAID RACKS, EACH OF SAID HOOK MEMBERS ENGAGING ONE OF SAID SLOTS IN SAID MEMBER SAID HOOKS RIDING ON SAID BEARING RING, MEANS TO TRIP ONE OF SAID RACKS TO CAUSE SAID RACK TO FALL FROM THE HORIZONTAL POSITION COMPRISING A LIFTING SHOE ON SAID BEARING RING SAID SHOE CAUSING SAID HOOK MEMBER TO RISE AND ROTATE IN THE SAID SLOT, GUIDE MEANS TO RESTORE SAID RACK TO HORIZONTAL POSITION UPON FURTHER ROTATION OF SAID BARREL, A MOTOR AND 